ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGIONAL SCHOOL BOARD
SCHOOLS REVIEW – PHASE 2
ANNAPOLIS COUNTY SCHOOLS
Public Meetings – 7:00PM to 9:00 PM
Monday, November 16, 2009 - Annapolis West Education Centre
Tuesday, November 17, 2009 – Bridgetown Regional High School
Working Together For Students
October 2009
AVRSB Schools Review Phase 2
What are the Options?
Overview
In the fall of 2008 the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board initiated a series of school reviews
to assist with future long-range planning for the region. Phase 1 of the process looked at student
population projections, building conditions and future facility utilization rates.
Feedback was solicited from the school communities which resulted in a number of submissions,
some quite extensive, which stressed the value and importance of schools to their communities
and for their future development. Also, many submissions made the point as well that small
schools can deliver a quality education to students.
Since the completion of Phase 1, the Province of Nova Scotia has announced another round of
new schools and capital renovations a number of which are in this region. These new projects
have been considered in the various options that will be presented as part of Phase 2 of the review
process.
For clarity, these reviews are not to be confused with the formal School Review Process as
outlined in the Regulations under the Education Act Sections 14 to 21. If a school building is to be
considered for permanent closure, the process and timelines in the Regulations must be followed.
In Phase 2 of the School Board’s Review Process, possible options for changes to existing school
configurations have been outlined. The options have not been presented in any order of preference
and the School Board has had no discussions on the relative benefits of the options pending
feedback from the School Community. Feedback is being solicited through this public process to
consider the impacts of each option on the school program, the students and the community at
large.
The goal of this public participation process is to help Board Staff identify which options should be
examined in more detail and what factors should be considered in that detailed examination. Only
after that more in-depth investigation has been completed will any recommendations for changes
be made for consideration of the School Board.
These options are being released in advance of the public meetings to allow for the preparation of
responses from interested parties. It is requested that the options presented be addressed
individually and that all submissions be provided to the Board in writing. It is further requested that
presentations at the public meeting be limited to ten minutes to allow for other presenters. There is
no limit on the length of the written portion of the submissions.
Written submissions will be accepted until December 31, 2009 and should be addressed to Stuart
Jamieson, Director of Finance & Operations, Annapolis Valley Regional School Board P.O. Box
340, Berwick, N.S. B0P 1E0 or by email to [email protected] .
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The final phase of this review process will have staff analyze the responses from individuals and
the school communities to the various options to determine which options warrant further
consideration and a more in-depth review. Following this further consideration, recommendations
will be prepared for the School Board for future actions regarding school configurations and to
identify if any schools should be considered for a formal review process in accordance with the
Regulations under the Education Act at some point in the future. These recommendations for
consideration will be presented to the Operations Committee in February 2010 for subsequent
recommendation to the School Board at its regular meeting in March 2010.
The end result of this process will be a multi-year plan to address the needs of students throughout
the region for many years into the future. It will also provide valuable assistance in the planning of
the many renovation projects that have been approved for the region over the next eight years.
Annapolis County Schools Review – Phase 2
What are the Options?
In the fall of 2008 the School Board as part of a long-range planning exercise released information
on the schools in Annapolis County. This information included enrolment projections, building
utilization calculations and details of building operating costs and conditions. This second phase of
the review process will identify options for the different areas of the county and seek feedback on
their impacts on the students, the community and School Board operations. This information will
aid in the development of long-range plans for the School Board. It should be noted that within the
options being presented, you will see options to group students at grades Primary to five for
elementary, grades six to eight at middle school and grades nine to twelve for high school. This is
the School Board’s preferred grade configuration for educational delivery and more than one of
these configurations may exist in the same school facility. Appendix 1 of this document provides a
context and rationale for the Board’s preferred grade configuration
Western Annapolis County
This system consists of two elementary schools (grades Primary to five), Clark Rutherford
Memorial School (CRMS) in Cornwallis Park and Champlain Elementary School (CES) in Granville
Ferry. These schools both feed into the Annapolis Royal Regional Academy (ARRA) in Annapolis
Royal for grades six to eight and then the students move up the street to the Annapolis West
Education Centre (AWEC) for grades nine to twelve.
At the elementary level, the concern was for Clark Rutherford Memorial School as it is in a
deteriorating condition and not a good candidate for renovation. This left two options; replace the
school or bus the students an additional 18.4 kilometres to Champlain Elementary School. This
choice has been addressed already by the Provincial Capital Construction Committee with the
announcement of a replacement school for CRMS to be constructed beginning in 2012-13.
At the secondary level, the sharply declining student numbers are resulting in a serious
underutilization of school capacity. Both ARRA and AWEC are in excess of 70,000 square feet with
capacities in the range of 500 students each. Enrolment projections put the combined student
population of the two schools at 406 students by September 2013. So the option to be considered
is to close one facility and operate the other as a combined Middle School/High School.
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It is proposed that the school to house the combined population would be AWEC rather than
ARRA. There are a number of reasons for this choice, the main ones being that AWEC has all of
the specialized facilities required for the high school program which ARRA does not have, there
are more instructional spaces at AWEC and it has superior physical education and music facilities.
The regular classrooms are smaller but are sufficient for the class sizes now being experienced.
Another key benefit is that AWEC will be receiving a mid-life upgrade during the 2012-13 fiscal
year.
From an academic perspective, a separate middle school program will be maintained in the
combined facility for the students in grades six to eight. These students will also benefit from
enhanced facilities for Technology Education, Family Studies and Music at the AWEC site. As well
the facility will be fully upgraded from a technology standpoint as part of the renovation project.
The students for both ARRA and AWEC currently travel on the same buses so there would be no
changes needed to current transportation arrangements.
There would be no loss of educational service to students, and the community would receive a
significant, well-maintained asset in a prime location. By examining these options now the Town of
Annapolis Royal and the Municipality of Annapolis County have the opportunity to begin to consult
with the community on the future use of the ARRA facility and be ready to entertain development
proposals for the site should it be declared surplus in the future.
Responses to the first phase of the School Review suggested maintaining both schools and finding
alternative uses for some of the excess space in the school buildings. The difficulty with this
concept is finding acceptable compatible uses given current school and student security issues.
Other uses would have to be segregated from regular school activities which would be very
problematic given that students need to utilize specialized instructional spaces throughout the
school. This kind of joint use works best when it is designed into a new school facility so these
factors can be taken into consideration. Any shared use would also have to be able to contribute to
the operating and maintenance costs of the facility as from the School Board’s perspective, there is
no benefit to operating and maintaining two large facilities when one can effectively serve the full
student population.
The School Board would realize operational savings in excess of $300,000 per year by not having
to operate the ARRA facility and there would be no funding loss as a result of the closure. There
would also be some administrative savings achieved by combining the two school populations.
Central Annapolis County
Central Annapolis County is served by two elementary schools (grades Primary to six), Bridgetown
Regional Elementary School (BRES) in Bridgetown and Lawrencetown Consolidated School (LCS)
in Lawrencetown. These schools both feed into the Bridgetown Regional High School (BRHS) for
grades seven through twelve. Attached to LCS is the former Lawrencetown High School which
currently houses the Lawrencetown Education Centre, one of the Board’s three Experiential High
Schools, some regional Student Services Staff and some community organizations.
BRES is a wood frame structure that is nearing the end of its useful life. In the opinion of the
School Board it is not a good candidate for renovation. LCS is a concrete block and brick structure
which is in good condition and does not require any major upgrades. The former Lawrencetown
High School portion of the building is in poorer condition and will require some expenditure to keep
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it operational. Both of the elementary facilities will continue to have declining enrolments although
the pace of decline will slow after the larger classes move on to the secondary level. Student
population projections for the year 2015-16 are 134 for BRES and 122 for LCS.
Options for BRES would be a replacement school or consolidation with another facility at some
point in the future. This consolidation could occur with BRHS or LCS.
At the secondary level, BRHS is a wood frame, brick veneer structure of approximately 70,000
square feet. It was last renovated twenty years ago and has been recently approved for another
renovation during the two-year period 2014 and 2015. The student population for the year 2015-16
is projected to be 321 (and to fall to 232 by 2019-20).
The BRHS facility would have the capacity in September 2015 to become a Primary to twelve
facility taking in the students from BRES. If consolidation was the decided course of action, the
renovations scheduled for 2014 and 2015 could be utilized to facilitate this change in configuration.
Another option for BRHS would be to become a Primary to Grade 8 facility with the majority of the
students in grades 9 to 12 attending Middleton Regional High School (MRHS). By 2015-16 MRHS
would have the capacity to accommodate all of the BRHS high school students; however, a few
students west of Bridgetown might choose to attend AWEC in Annapolis Royal. This option would
create a Primary to grade 8 school of 213 students.
If a new school was to be considered to replace BRES, the Province would likely seek the inclusion
of the LCS students as well given that the combined population of both schools is projected to only
be 256 in 2015-16 (and fall to 227 by 2019-20). A further consideration for this option would be to
have the new elementary school serve grades Primary to five and have BRHS serve grades six to
twelve. This would allow for a middle school program for grades six to eight at BRHS.
If a new school was created to serve the elementary students of BRES and LCS or their
populations were consolidated at BRHS in the P to 8 scenario, the School Board could move all
the activities currently in the former high school portion of the Lawrencetown School into the
elementary school which is in better condition and allow for the demolition of the former high
school portion saving the cost of renovations that will be needed to maintain that facility.
The impact on the local community will vary with each option that has been presented. The Primary
to grade twelve scenario will have minimal impact as it maintains all students in their current
community. BRHS would be renovated to appropriately accommodate the expanded grade levels
being served and would be organized with three distinct educational programs for elementary,
middle and high school. More flexibility would be available to the school administration for the use
of educational resources due to the larger combined staff and resources available. Without the
addition of the elementary population, BRHS will become very small within the next ten years. On
the facilities side, operational savings would be achieved by the Board if the BRES building was no
longer required. The BRES land and building would be returned to the community where it could
be developed for community use or sold for redevelopment which could generate future tax
revenue.
The community impact of the new school option would depend on the configuration and location of
the new school. A new school for just the students of BRES if built in Bridgetown would simply
retain the current situation for all communities and provide a new facility for the BRES students.
While this might be the ideal solution, the question here is will the Province build a new school for a
small and declining school population when other, more cost-effective options are available. The
community impact of a new school that combined the populations of BRES and LCS would depend
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on the location of the new facility as neither community will want to lose the presence of their
elementary school. Here too other options are available that could make the approval of a
combined new school questionable as LCS would have the capacity to accommodate both
elementary populations and is in good condition.
The loss of the high school at BRHS would have a significant impact on the local community
without question. Every community values its institutions and the benefits they provide. The
consideration of this option is really about the additional educational and social opportunities that
students would achieve attending what would become a more reasonably sized high school at
MRHS. Having a high school in a community is generally felt to be an asset for attracting potential
new residents but, if the program and other opportunities for students are not seen to be as good
as other schools, it could become a deterrent. More important than physical proximity is quality of
program and breadth of opportunity for students.
If the high school did move, the Primary to grade eight option for BRHS would be the result but,
given the size of the population, serious consideration would have to be made to combining the
Bridgetown and Lawrencetown P to 8 populations to achieve a more viable school size. This would
result in the Lawrencetown community losing their elementary school which would be a significant
loss to the community. As a compromise the LCS students should go to Bridgetown starting in
grade six rather than grade seven to facilitate a proper middle school program for all of the
students.
Eastern Annapolis County
Eastern Annapolis County is served by one elementary school, Annapolis East Elementary School
(AEES) serving grades Primary to six and one junior/senior high school, Middleton Regional High
School (MRHS) serving grades seven to twelve. AEES was built in 1988 and is in reasonably good
condition. MRHS has been renovated three times the latest being this year which added a new
larger gymnasium and a new larger music facility.
AEES has a declining population due to larger classes moving on to MRHS. This is projected to
continue for three more years and stabilize to a more gradual decline. The population in ten years
is projected to be 431. MRHS also has a declining population and will experience increased
declines after 2009-10 as the larger classes graduate and smaller classes replace them. This
decline is not expected to stabilize until all of the larger classes have graduated in 2016-17. By
2019-20 MRHS is projected to have a population of 390 which represents a loss of 259 students
since 2008-09.
This significant decline at MRHS will create capacity that could be utilized to accommodate the
high school population of BRHS within five years. If this does not occur, consideration could be
given to moving the grade six students to MRHS at some point to create a grade six to eight middle
school within MRHS.
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Schools Reviews – Phase 2
Appendix 1
Grade Configuration in the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board
In 2008, the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board (AVRSB) passed a motion stating that its
ideal grade configuration was to have primary (P) to grade 5 schools, grades 6 to 8 schools, and
grades 9 to 12 schools. It recognized that this was not achievable quickly, but the concept
provided philosophical direction for the future, especially during the school review process.
The AVRSB has a variety of school configurations within its boundaries. There are schools
configured as P-5, P-6, P-8, P-9, 6-8, 7-9, 6-12, 7-12, 9-12 and 10-12. The challenge of
maintaining consistency and ensuring smooth transitions for students has definitely been made
more difficult by this variety of school configurations. As an example in one school in the region,
students arrive at either grade seven, grade 9, or grade 10 so there needs to be a transition
program for students in a variety of years, and students have different levels of involvement in the
school based on when they arrived. Similar situations exist for other schools.
Most researchers, parents, educators and students recognize the challenge of transitions in the
educational program. Many students experience great anxiety when they start school, or move
from one school to another. Parents and guardians also feel that anxiety. It is generally agreed
that minimizing the number of transitions in a P-12 education is a good thing. If the AVRSB can
move to a situation where all schools offer P-5, 6-8, and 9-12, no child would experience more than
three transitions in her or his time in public schools. In some cases it would be less, where there is
a grade 6-12 school or a P-8 school.
In the cases where the middle school is housed within a building with elementary or high school
students, AVRSB supports a “school-within-a-school concept”. Wise educators have been well
supported by research when they have recognized that middle schools are different from
elementary or high schools. Students in grade 6, 7 and 8 need to be treated as middle school
students because it has been shown that those ages provide different developmental and
behavioural realities. (There is a great deal of evidence that students in grade 6 are physically,
socially, emotionally and psychologically moving into the middle years and should be grouped in
this configuration.) The “middle school” philosophy, as demonstrated in many of the region’s
schools, should be promoted and celebrated. Such activities as “exploratories”, opportunities for
“teaming”, and recognizing the importance of social development in the lives of adolescents are
keys to establishing a successful middle school program.
Grade 9 is the year that has been most perplexing and challenging. In some cases it has been
part of middle school and in some cases part of high school. Most people have agreed that grade
nine is best suited to be in a high school context. In fact, in some other provinces high school
credits are offered starting at the grade 9 level. Whether or not high school credits have been or
will be offered to grade 9s, having them as part of the high school seems to be a sensible
approach. Locating grade 9 in a high school provides better access to programming than when it
is integrated into a middle or elementary school. Gymnasia, sports programs, academic options,
and extra-curricular activities are all generally best for grade 9 students in the high school setting.
There is much concern about the drop-out rate between grade 9 and grade 10. When the grades
are offered in the same building it gives the school the ability to structure transition for students and
to minimize disruptions.
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As the AVRSB reviews its facilities, the need for consistency throughout the schools in the Valley
should be kept in mind. To provide an equitable, consistent program over the long term and
throughout the region, moving toward the ideal configuration of schools is a practical plan based on
the needs of students and families. If all schools are transitioning at the same time, then equity
and consistency are recognized and enhanced. Moving toward primary to grade 5 schools, grade
6 to 8 schools, and grade nine to 12 schools is a long-term approach consistent with the vision and
direction of the Annapolis Valley Regional School Board.
“Working Together for Students” means that the Board puts the needs of students at the centre of
everything it does, and looking toward this ideal configuration of schools is one part of a holistic
plan to offer the best programming for students and to meet both their academic and emotional
needs.
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